5

Given the intense level of anti-Muggle prejudice in wizard supremacist movements (e.g. those of Voldemort and Grindelwald), it seems like there would be an equivalent slur to "Mudblood" to refer to Muggles. I can't recall if one is ever mentioned in either the books or the now prodigious additional material JK Rowling has been producing in interviews, Twitter, and Pottermore, and additional works like Beedle the Bard.

Is there a slur for Muggles in the Harry Potter universe?

Related: Why Do Purebloods Call Muggle-Borns 'Mudbloods'?

7
  • 7
    I suspect that the reason that there’s no slur is that contempt for Muggles is sufficiently assumed that there’s no need for one. Plus, the purpose of a slur is often to insult the person thus addressed…which would be prohibited by the Statute of Secrecy, of course.
    – Adamant
    Commented Jul 26, 2017 at 17:10
  • 3
    @Adamant Good point—"Muggle" itself might suffice as the slur (in the same way "Jew" can be used as a slur in some contexts). I would disagree about the Statute of Secrecy though; unfortunately, slurs are very often used in private against groups not present.
    – user30472
    Commented Jul 26, 2017 at 17:13
  • 1
    @suitvertices - Yes; that’s basically addressed by the first point. In a conversation with other wizards, you can basically assume that they at least have some light contempt for Muggles, so who needs a special word? In a conversation with Muggles, you can’t exactly start insulting them for their lack of magic. It’s probably telling that all the insults that we hear ( “blood traitor,” “mudblood,” “Muggle-loving,” and so forth) are against witches and wizards. Even “filthy half-breed” (Umbridge’s favorite) is against magical creatures who are aware of the wizarding world.
    – Adamant
    Commented Jul 26, 2017 at 17:22
  • 6
    @AdamV: the "no-maj" atrocity is apparently American English for "muggle". (Totally makes no sense, from a linguistic or sociological standpoint, but that's what she wrote.) So it's a slur to the same degree, or lack thereof, as "muggle".
    – Martha
    Commented Jul 26, 2017 at 17:22
  • 1
    Possible duplicate of Is the term "muggle" pejorative?
    – erised
    Commented Jun 18, 2018 at 14:40

1 Answer 1

5

No, there probably isn’t - anti-Muggle wizards call them Muggles.

There doesn’t seem to be any equivalent word to Mudblood for Muggles. The wizards we see who hate Muggles and use terms like Mudblood only ever call Muggles Muggles, not any other term. If there was a more derogatory term for Muggles, it seems likely at least one of them would use it. The Dark Lord himself, shortly after talking about Mudbloods, used the term Muggles for them.

“Silence,’ said Voldemort, with another twitch of Malfoy’s wand, and Charity fell silent as if gagged. ‘Not content with corrupting and polluting the minds of wizarding children, last week Professor Burbage wrote an impassioned defence of Mudbloods in the Daily Prophet. Wizards, she says, must accept these thieves of their knowledge and magic. The dwindling of the pure-bloods is, says Professor Burbage, a most desirable circumstance … she would have us all mate with Muggles … or, no doubt, werewolves …”
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 1 (The Dark Lord Ascending)

No one else uses another term for Muggles, either. Presumably, this is because the word Muggle indicates something bad enough that there’s no need to invent a new word. To them, the word Muggles itself refers to something sufficiently and obviously bad, so it’s “automatically” an insult.

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.